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Category Archives: User Interface

Starting Some Design Sprints

I have decided to start putting into my schedule more “design sprints” as a way of flexing my UI/Ux design muscles in prep for future work.
I came from a UI design background, so I am getting back to some roots through this activity.

Like any good project, I have defined some constraints for a sprint. Here are my constraints:

I have one week for a sprint with a topic of interest to me (does not have to relate to a project).

I must complete 1 pomodoro sprint daily (if you do not know those, they are essentially a 25 minute block of focused effort followed by a rest)

I must complete 10 pomodoros through a work week (Monday to Friday)

I will document my work.

I ship the design on the weekend.

I am focusing on healthcare IT design considerations, such as portions of the EMR and personal health services.

I will use methods that I can do myself, so I do not have to coordinate ethics, users, etc. This is meant to encourage with as few barriers as possible and, let’s be honest, waiting for recruitment for a focus group is not a pomodoro.

Methods I am using include

Simple web research

Mood boards

Personas

Activity modeling

Use Case Mapping

Wireframing / Prototyping

I have picked these because they will fit into pomodoros and they have a visual component so they might be interesting to share online.

Anyone is welcome to join me on a sprint.

My first attempt was a sprint on the problem list in EMRs and I documented the work in a little video.

It was interesting and good to do. I will be making more space to do these in the coming months as I find them recharging.